The use of fluorosurfactants as the dispersing agent in the aqueous dispersion of polymerization of fluoromonomer is well known, as disclosed e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 2,559,752 (Berry). Accompanying the use of fluorosurfactants is the desire to remove or recover the fluorosurfactant from the aqueous polymerization medium used in polymerization process. Recent patents propose the use of hydrocarbon-containing surfactants in the polymerization of vinylidene fluoride. The hydrocarbon surfactant is used in combination with fluorosurfactant as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,705 (Araki et al.) or by itself as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,841,616 Wille et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 7,521,513 (Tang) and U.S. Patent Publications 2006/0281845 (Amin-Sanayei et al.) and 2007/0032591 (Durali et al.).
The problem with the use of hydrocarbon-containing surfactants is that they exhibit telogenic behavior in the polymerization reaction, which is the result of the reaction between the hydrocarbon-containing surfactant and free radicals in the polymerization system. Telogenic behavior is that behavior which inhibits the polymerization reaction. There are many pathways that manifest telogenicity, but regardless of the pathway, telogenic behavior is the behavior which leads to a reduced number of growing polymer chains and thereby a reduced rate of polymer production and/or a significant reduction in polymer molecular weight.